The Campaign

Branded Content/Entertainment in Australia is relatively free of restrictions and regulations. However, the brand, or funding source, must be openly disclosed to the audience. This applies to all main media. Within TV, of the five main Free-To-Air networks, two of them have significant restrictions - the national government-owned ABC can have absolutely no branded content. The other, SBS, has considerable restrictions. The current climate in Australia regarding branded entertainment is one of major commercial growth and momentum. Online platforms are the most popular for placement of branded entertainment, but TV is by far the most desirable and the most difficult to secure. Independent estimates of 25% growth for branded content on TV in 2012 are common.

Results

Research discovered that while Australians all over shared a deep sense of pride in the SOH, most Sydneysiders didn't consider it more than an iconic Australian venue that's home to the classical arts and other 'elitist' events. It just wasn't the destination they'd ever think of visiting as a regular part of their lives in Sydney. The crux of the strategy was to get people to think about the SOH as a cultural hub that 'democratised creativity' & not just an exclusive, all conquering bastion for global creativity, but an open and welcoming creative space that is accessible to everyone. Creative Execution The creative idea was to invite Sydneysiders inside the iconic building showing a totally different side to 'The House'. Through the medium of a music video, people were able to access the most private parts of the building, thus discovering a space more intimate and accessible than just the clichéd sails that adorn the landmark. Set to a reworking of Nick Cave's immortal ballad, 'The Ship Song', a video was created that featured performances by some of Australia and The World's preeminent artists. It was launched online via a seeding program on social networking platforms in conjunction with a live media event at the venue. 3 x 30 second TVC's were created and aired on national television. The song was released as a single and played on radio; it was also available for download on iTunes. In addition to this posters were created and distributed around Sydney city and a documentary about the project ran regularly on TV and QANTAS in-flight.

The Ship Song Project brought together numerous artists to perform the iconic piece. Each artist has their own fans and followers on social platforms and we encouraged them to share the video and site links via their Facebook and Twitter profiles. The combined fan base of all artists exceeded well over a million and was a natural way to get the work out through adoring fans. PR also played a key role in accelerating views on music blogger sites and mainstream news. Paid media came later with street posters and cut downs for TV which further drove traffic to theshipsongproject.com.

In the 24 hours after its launch, the film clip was shared online 1.7 million times and was picked up by every major television news program and featured in every major Australian newspaper. There was also extensive coverage across international press. The single reached 34 on the iTunes singles chart and trended on Twitter and YouTube for four days. Over $2 million in free PR, editorial and social media was earned at launch. The Ship Song Project helped SOH achieve a 40% increase in ticket (August 2010 vs. August 2011). Best of all, $0 was spent on traditional media.